HI 4.12.23

MARATHON EDITION HOPKINTON INDEPENDENT

Family provides inspiration for Trivedi

Decade after bombing, an emotional return

By Sidhi Dhanda Contributing Writer

OnApril 15, 2013, Beth

Hankin was a mile from finishing her second Boston Marathon when the race was halted after bombs exploded at the finish line area.

Darsh Trivedi was encouraged by his family — wife Hiranya, daughter Nia and son Dwij — and inspired by loved ones who died from cancer to take on the Boston Marathon.

By Mary Ellen Gambon

Contributing Writer

Darsh Trivedi was motivated to run in the Boston Marathon because of the unconventional inspiration methods used by his family to persuade him. He previously vowed never to run again

Her then-husband was on Boylston Street waiting for her. He escaped without injury.

Hankin and the other runners were pulled off the race course and sat on the side of the road for about an hour. Eventually, she started walking away.

“I finally kind of broke down and started to cry, and people just gathered and hugged me, and they brought me a sweatshirt from their home,” she recalled.

Page 4: Bennett among honorary starters

Page 14: Navy vet Cole motivated by military

Page 15: Gendron races to honor father

Page 16: MS doesn’t stop Gonzalez

Page 20: Niemi inspired by friend’s courage

Page 24: Muhammad runs to support SACH

Page 25: Pucci, Sisitsky help those in need

Beth Hankin, shown running Boston in 2012, will return to the race 10 years after the finish line bombing.

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Marathon Committee welcomes runners

The Hopkinton Marathon Committee’s historic sign welcomes Boston Marathon participants and spectators to the Town Common every year.

It All Starts Here! On behalf of the Hopkinton Marathon Committee, we extend a warm welcome to the athletes, their families and friends, and visitors from all over the world representing 50 states and over 110 countries for the 127th running of the Boston Marathon. The Town of Hopkinton will once again take center stage as we host over 30,000 runners, 1,000 volunteers, and hundreds of spectators on Patriots’ Day. Congratu-

lations to all the athletes who have trained for months earning their place at the start line on April 17.

Ten years ago, we came together as a nation, sharing love, compassion and unbelievable strength in response to the tragedy at the Boston Marathon finish line. April 13, 2015, marked the beginning of a new, annual Boston tradition: One Boston Day. Each year, the day Welcome | page 3

The Boston Athletic Association, organizer of the Boston Marathon®, thanks residents of the Town of Hopkinton for their patience and cooperation as we have worked with many partners to plan a a safe and successful 127th Boston Marathon. We look forward to welcoming many runners back to Hopkinton this Patriots’ Day. For more race day information, please visit www.baa.org

127TH BOSTON MARATHON® | APRIL 17, 2023

Nearly 30,000 entrants will participate in the 127th Boston Marathon, starting their 26.2-mile run on Main Street in Hopkinton and finishing on Boylston Street in Copley Square. Start

RACE DAY ROAD CLOSURES

To ensure a safe and enjoyable race experience for all participants, race day road closures will be in effect on Monday, April 17.

. Roads within the Town of Hopkinton will close at 7:00 a.m.

. No on-street parking will be allowed in Hopkinton.

. Roads will re-open at 1:30 p.m.

Only official B.A.A. buses, official vehicles, and public safety vehicles will be permitted on roads in Hopkinton during that time.

PARTICIPANT SHUTTLE IN HOPKINTON

Very limited parking is available for participants at the 52 & 80 South Street lots in Hopkinton. Participant shuttle buses will run throughout race morning. Please visit www.baa.org for a list of prohibited items that are not allowed near the start or on Hopkinton shuttle buses.

SPECTATORS IN HOPKINTON

11:15 a.m.

4

Entrants will be assigned a bus loading window that corresponds to their seeding and bib number. All bib numbers will be color-coded according to bus loading times, which corresponds to start windows in Hopkinton.

Several viewing areas in Hopkinton will have heightened security rules. Spectators entering these areas will be required to pass through security checkpoints and all bags and items being carried will be subject to screening. Spectators are strongly encouraged to carry personal items in clear plastic bags. For more information on spectator policies, please visit www.baa.org. Spectator parking and a shuttle on race morning will be located at Hopkinton State Park.

Select Board welcomes Boston Marathon

By Amy Ritterbusch Hopkinton Select Board Chair

The Select Board, on behalf of the town of Hopkinton, is once again excited to welcome runners, spectators and volunteers from all around the world to our usually quiet town. It is a sure sign of spring when we hear the street sweepers driving through the downtown tidying up the roads for the Marathon. This is followed shortly by the emergence of runners doing their final training runs. Then we can really start to feel the anticipation building in the air as we approach Marathon weekend, with the clang of metal fencing being delivered for the corrals, the painting of the start line and the arrival of tourists and runners coming to take selfies with our commemorative statues, as they get the lay of the land before Monday. And finally the big day, when residents come out in droves to cheer on the runners!

A huge thank you goes out to the Boston Athletic Association and the Hopkinton Marathon Committee for their countless hours of careful planning and attention to detail. We are grateful for all of the hard work by Hopkinton town staff members and all the volunteers who come from near and far to make everything run smoothly and safely. It truly runs like a well-oiled machine and is amazing to watch.

I would be remiss not to acknowledge that this year is the 100th anniversary of the last time the Boston Marathon started in Ashland. We share a lot in common with our neighboring town and sports rival, and it was only through a simple twist of fate, thanks to Queen Alexandra who wanted the finish line of the Marathon for the London Summer Olympics to end at Buckingham Palace, that the standard marathon distance was extended from 25 miles to 26.2 miles. And that’s how the start line ended up moving to Hopkinton in 1924.

In closing, almost before we know it, every year by midday the race has left Hopkinton, and the cleanup crews have efficiently put everything back just as it was before. Then Hopkinton returns to being a quiet town again for the next 364 days. I hope many of our visitors will return again in future years, when we can look toward the completion of the Main Street Corridor project this fall, the establishment of a Hopkinton Center Cultural District and ultimately an International Marathon Center and Museum. Wishing everyone a wonderful Marathon Monday, and more cowbell!

Marathon Committee welcomes runners

serves as an opportunity to celebrate the resiliency, generosity and strength demonstrated by the people of Boston and around the world in response to the tragedy of April 15, 2013. This year’s marathon theme is oneBOSTON, which represents the significance of the past decade as we pause in remembrance. The Boston Athletic Association will unveil a new finish line design on April 15.

The BAA selects the starters for Wave 1 and earlier starts. Since 2006, the BAA has given the Hopkinton Marathon Committee the honor of selecting starters for the later waves. Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett will start Wave 2. Jamie Stewart is the Wave 3 starter and Abbie Rosenberg will start Wave 4.

We are excited to welcome back Gen. James McConville, the chief of staff of the U.S. Army, who will participate in the veteran recognition program honoring four local veterans on the starter’s platform: Muriel Kramer (Air Force), Peter Redding (Army), Tyler Staback (Marine Corps) and Brennan Grimley

(Army). McConville, a Quincy native, ran the Boston Marathon in 2017 and was the Wave 3 starter in 2019.

Special thanks to the race organizers, BAA officials and staff who have masterfully organized and perfected this prestigious world-class athletic event. We especially thank the BAA team for working to enhance the start line VIP viewing area so it is more inclusive and accessible for all to enjoy!

We are grateful for the tremendous support and cooperation from our town departments, especially our public safety officials who have worked closely with local, state and federal agencies to ensure a safe and enjoyable race for all. Our Highway Department has been working nonstop making sure the town shines on race weekend. We thank our partners, businesses and citizens of Hopkinton for your continued support: Select Board, Town Manager’s Office, Police Department, Fire Department, Department of Public Works, Parks & Recreation Commission, School De-

The 2022-23 Hopkinton Select Board consists of (from left) Irfan Nasrullah, Mary Jo LaFreniere, Amy Ritterbusch, Muriel Kramer and Shahidul Mannan.

PHOTO/TOWN OF HOPKINTON

Welcome | from page 2

We welcome the 127th running of the BAA Boston Marathon and the opportunity it provides Hopkinton to demonstrate our hospitality to the world. GOOD LUCK To All Who Participate www.phippsinsurance.com Registry & Notary Service Open M-F 8:30 – 5 80 Main Street - Hopkinton MA 01748 508-435-6388 ATradition of Personal Ser vice & Community Support We are your reliable insurance neighbor! HOME • CONDO • RENTER • AUTO • BUSINESS • Tree Assessment/Maintenance • Hand Pruning Care • Tick & Mosquito Control • Plant Health Care Services Schedule a consultation today 781.801.3576 Let us help you maintain your property Kevin Narbonne Kevin.peerarboricultural@gmail.com Hopkinton, MA

STARTERS COMMEMORATIVE

By Jean Cann Contributing Writer

The starters for Waves

2-4 of the Boston Marathon include two longtime public servants and a resident who has given back to the community in countless ways. Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett will start Wave 2, recently retired Department of Public Works employee Jamie Stewart will start Wave 3, and Abbie Rosenberg, who started two charitable endeavors in Hopkinton, will start Wave 4.

The Boston Athletic Association has entrusted the Hopkinton Marathon Committee to select starters for the later waves of the Boston Marathon since introducing the wave start in 2006.

Hopkinton Police Chief Joseph Bennett, shown at the start of last year’s Boston Marathon, will start one of the waves this year.

“Members of the committee nominate members of the community who have served the community, particularly service related to the Boston Marathon,” explained Dorothy Ferriter-Wallace, Hopkinton Marathon Committee chair. “This year we are thrilled that Chief Bennett, Jamie Stewart and Abbie Rosenberg have accepted our invitation to fire the starter’s pistol to send Waves 2, 3 and 4 toward Boston.”

Bennett has served on the Hopkinton Marathon Committee for many years and has been working the Marathon on Patriots’ Day for almost 30 years. The chief since 2020, Bennett started with the HPD as an officer in 1993 and has worked as a patrolman, detective, sergeant, lieutenant and deputy chief, receiving numerous honors and awards from his own department, the state and even the FBI. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Western New England College and previously worked for the police departments in Sutton and Southborough. Bennett works closely with law enforcement officials from across the state and nationwide to help ensure the safety of runners and townspeople at the start of the Boston Marathon.

Jamie Stewart retired in September of 2022 after 36 years working for the town. He worked for the Department of Public Works. According to Mike Mansir, Hopkinton Highway Manager, “Jamie is a very talented mechanic, welder, fabricator, equipment operator and snowplow operator.” As a Public Works employee, Stewart took part in the many tasks the department completes before, during, and after the Boston Marathon, including sweeping streets, cleaning the Doughboy statue, barricading roads, and cleaning up the town at a legendary pace to allow roads to reopen.

Abbie Rosenberg, founder and executive director of the Hopkinton-based Mental Health Collaborative, has lived in Hopkinton for 21 years. She founded and was director for many years of Hopkinton’s second biggest race, the Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K. The Timlin event has raised more than $2 million for ALS research. Rosenberg, a founding member of the Hopkinton Running Club, has run the BAA Half Marathon. Her son, Zack Sisitsky, a Hopkinton High School graduate, will be running Boston this year.

“Zack is running for a nonprofit near and dear to our family, the Hopkinton Emergency Fund, and I know so many people running for charity, that I’m super excited to start the fourth wave,” Rosenberg shared. “Many of the charity runners that I know include those raising money for ALS research — that I know from the Timlin Event — and for Mental Health Collaborative, so I am over the moon to see them all cross the starting line.”

About Ferriter-Wallace’s invitation on behalf of the Marathon Committee, Rosenberg stated, “I was very surprised and extremely honored! Dottie’s passion and excitement is contagious, so talking to her has made me even more excited and so grateful to have this opportunity.”

Marathon Committee welcomes runners

Welcome | from page 3

partment, Board of Health, CVS, Dell Technologies, Korean Presbyterian Church, Hopkinton Sunoco, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization.

The Hopkinton Marathon Committee and the entire BAA start team have worked tirelessly all year on the meticulously detailed logistics and planning in preparation for the world’s premier marathon. Your stewards of the start are ready!

To all those visiting Hopkinton, we hope you enjoy the beauty and hospitality our community extends to you. To all those running, may you experience and embrace all the rich traditions and amazing history of the Boston Marathon.

Be sure to take a photo in front of our “It All Starts Here” sign on the Town Common and take home a treasured memory of your visit to Hopkinton!

With warm regards,

Dorothy Ferriter-Wallace Chair, Hopkinton Marathon Committee BAA liaison and Organizing Committee member

Good luck to all participants in the 2023 Boston Marathon. May you hear the loud cheering crowds supporting you from the start line all the way to the finish line!

Banner day

During a presentation at Start Line Brewing on March 31, the Hopkinton Independent donated a Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce Boston Marathon banner to Friends of Hopkinton to acknowledge the organization’s dedication to creating town spirit and pride. Pictured are (from left) Jeff Taback from Start Line Brewing, Amanda Faucher from the Hopkinton Chamber of Commerce, Dale Danahy from Friends of Hopkinton and Dave Bagdon, publisher of the Hopkinton Independent.

10 years after bombing, Hankin returns to race

Hankin | from page 1

Hankin waited in one woman’s front yard for more than three hours before her husband was able to drive out and reunite with her. They then went to see their three children and extended family, who were waiting for them at home in Millville.

In the week that followed, Hankin, her husband and children all slept together on their couch.

“We had one of those big, huge sofas that wrap around, and the kids just wanted to sleep together,” she explained.

On the 10th anniversary of the bombing, Hankin will return to the race to raise funds for the Hopkinton Women’s Club (gofund.me/2b6f2922). Her goal is to raise $5,000 to support the club’s college scholarship program as well as community outreach programs.

“There is just kind of so much need out there, and we need more people, more funding, and more resources to be able to help,” Hankin said.

Running has been a constant in Hankin’s life from the very beginning. As a child living in Blackstone, she would go to the start line in Hopkinton to watch the Marathon. From age 10, Hankin recalls running outside in KangaROOS sneakers. As she got older, she realized running was more than just a form of exercise. For Hankin, running is “moving meditation.”

But after the 2013 race, her relationship with running changed. Hankin had to work through the stress and anxiety running caused her after the bombing. She started focusing on wellness in all

areas of her life. Eventually, she quit her financial services job on Boylston Street — near the finish line — to start her own venture as an integrative nutrition health coach specializing in holistic well-being.

She returned to run Boston in 2014, receiving a complimentary number from the Boston Athletic Association so she could “finish the race” from the prior year. Then she stepped away from the event. Until this year.

“I wasn’t planning to run the Marathon,” said Hankin, now 51. “I just felt moved realizing it was the 10th year. I thought it was a good time to sort of go back and reclaim some of that positive energy that I get from the Marathon.”

In addition to supporting the Women’s Club, Hankin is running for her children, who still deal with the effects of what happened 10 years ago. Her oldest daughter is choosing not to go to the finish.

“She said, ‘It’s very hard for me to go back to that place that traumatized me for years,’ ” Hankin said. “I want to model for her that just because this happened to us — and though it does impact who we are and who we’ve become — it does not have to hold us back from the things that we love and want in life.”

Hankin, who now lives in Upton, is not just running for the Women’s Club and her family but for all who were affected by the trauma of 2013.

“It just feels right to go back and honor those lives lost and impacted due to the events of 10 years ago,” Hankin said. “I think of all those impacted and pray for them to this day.”

PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

HCA exhibit celebrates strength, beauty of empowered women

Good Luck Runners!

By Jane Bigda Contributing Writer

Celebrating women’s determination to make their own choices and be their authentic selves is demonstrated both by the art and the lives of award-winning local photographer Chelsea Bradway and Renaissance woman Bobbi Gibb.

Creations recognizing women’s empowerment by both artists will be on display at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts (HCA) show Breaking Away, running from March 8 through April 20 in the Lotvin Family Gallery.

“March is International Women’s Month and I wanted to do something to acknowledge that and celebrate women,” said Sarah Alexander, HCA’s director of visual arts. So Alexander approached both artists, who she calls “two really powerful women.”

Bradway focuses on the strength of ordinary women in her “Be a Lady They Said” series of photos that will be displayed during the show. Smaller versions of the 200 black-and-white photos she took of women and girls during the middle of the COVID pandemic will be hung from clothes lines along one wall of the Breaking Away exhibit. The series takes its name from the poem by Camille Rainville, which lists all the strictures women face through their lives.

In contrast to the poem, Bradway asked her subjects, who come from all walks of life, to bring whatever was important to them to her unadorned studio and pose in any way they liked. The “women were allowed to present their authentic selves, and to express through their faces and bodies how they felt: free to project their own force, strength, vulnerability, curiosity, whatever they were feeling about their place in the world,” wrote Bradway in her artist’s statement.

Saying her job as an artist was to gather all the individual assertions into one powerful voice of women seeking and being empowered, Bradway concluded, “This exhibition is my way to say that the female voices are whisper-

ing, speaking and shouting through these photographs, we will not be quiet.”

All the women and girls shown in the 200 photos will be invited to the HCA show.

Gibb, an icon of female empowerment, was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1966. Dropping into the race as an unregistered participant since women then were not allowed to run in competitions longer than a mile-and-ahalf, she finished ahead of two-thirds of the male runners with a time of three hours, 21 minutes, 40 seconds.

Besides her athletic prowess, Gibb is an attorney, has worked as a neuroscientist and expresses herself through her writings, sculptures and paintings. The HCA show will feature a selection of her smaller bronze sculptures of women in motion along with impressionistic and abstract paintings reflecting the patterns she feels a kinship with in nature. “Each living thing seems so exquisitely aware of itself. It speaks to me in a language beyond words,” she wrote in her book ‘Wind in the Fire.’ ”

Breaking Away also will include historical photographs and articles about Gibb and her 1966 trailblazing run for women. In addition, HCA currently is the site for Gibb’s sculpture memorializing her first marathon run, A Girl in Motion. The sculpture will be placed in its permanent home near the Boston Marathon start line in the near future.

Reflecting on the show that combines the artists’ talents, Alexander said, “We wanted the powerful running figures to have a conversation with the photos of these ordinary women from all walks of life. And be a celebration of all that is strong and beautiful about women.”

Breaking Away is free and open to the public. Those visiting the gallery at 98 Hayden Rowe Street are invited to donate menstrual care products for Dignity Matters, a charity that assists women and girls who are without a home or living in poverty.

For more information, visit HopArtsCenter.org.

This bronze sculpture created by Bobbi Gibb is one of her creations featured in the Breaking Away exhibit at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts.

PHOTO/BOBBI GIBB

Hopkinton veterans to be honored at start line

Select Board member Muriel Kramer, a former Air Force captain, is among those who will be honored at the Boston Marathon start on April 17.

By Jean Cann Contributing Writer

Four local veterans will be honored and recognized at the start of this year’s Boston Marathon in honor of Patriots’ Day. Gen. James Charles McConville, who serves as the 40th Chief of Staff of the Army, will be on hand to recognize the four veterans: Brennan Grimley (Army), Muriel Kramer (Air Force), Peter Redding (Army) and Tyler Staback (Marines).

Recognizing local veterans at the Boston Marathon start has become a highlight of Patriots’ Day for Hopkinton Marathon Committee Chair Dorothy Ferriter-Wallace, who started the annual tradition. “The sacrifices these veterans have made for their country and their communities deserves appreciation,” she said. “We enjoy being able to pay tribute to them in front of a large crowd at the start of the greatest marathon in the world on Patriots’ Day. We are honored that General McConville will be present to recognize this year’s veterans.”

Hopkinton Select Board member Muriel Kramer, who has lived in Hopkinton for more than 30 years, will be honored for her service in the Air Force. A member of Air Force ROTC as a Syracuse University student, Kramer achieved the rank of captain, serving for four years after she graduated. Kramer worked as a writer and a certified pharmacy technician while raising six children, then earned her master’s degree in social work from Boston College in 2017, and currently works in that field. In addition to serving others in the military and through her career, Kramer has served her community in a variety of volunteer positions. Currently a member of the Select Board, Kramer previously served on the Planning Board, Board of Appeals, Master Plan Committee and Commissioner of Trust Funds, and she had a stint as deputy town moderator. She also is a member of the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee.

Peter Redding, a 1967 Hopkinton High School graduate, will be recognized for his service in the Army. He graduated from UMass Amherst in 1971 as a distinguished military graduate with a degree in marketing. He entered the Army immediately after college, commissioned as a second lieutenant. After completing training in Georgia and Vir-

ginia, he planned to make a career in the military. He worked in various positions in Colorado, Thailand, Texas, California and Turkey before moving closer to home at Fort Devens because of some illnesses in his family. A captain, he earned many honors including the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Service Medal, and Army Service Ribbon. He worked as a partner in his father’s company, molding parts for military submarines. A member of the Hopkinton High School band in the 1960s, Redding remembers playing on the Town Common at the Boston Marathon as runners started on Hayden Rowe Street and took a right onto Main Street. He also volunteered as a Scout leader for years selling food on the Town Common.

Brennan Grimley and Tyler Staback, both officers in the Hopkinton Police Department, will be recognized for their service in the Army and Marine Corps, respectively. A Massachusetts native, Staback graduated from Worcester State University, where he studied criminal justice/law enforcement administration. Upon graduating, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, working in aviation communications. The lance corporal then worked as a public safety officer at a hospital before becoming a Massachusetts State Police Officer for three years. He began working for the Hopkinton Police Department last summer.

Grimley grew up in nearby Grafton and lives locally. He first started working for the Hopkinton Police Department as an intern while a college student at Norwich University in Vermont and was hired full-time last May. He began his military service in the Army ROTC at Norwich in 2018 before commissioning as a second lieutenant in the Army in 2020. He now is a first lieutenant and military police officer in the Army Reserves, serving as the executive officer for a military police company. “My favorite thing about Hopkinton is the community,” said Grimley. “People are always bringing things by the station. Also, people around town are always waving and making their appreciation of what we do known.”

Said Ferriter-Wallace: “These four veterans served their country honorably and all continue to serve this community in various ways. We thank them for their service as we celebrate Patriots’ Day.”

FILE PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

Trivedi runs to support cancer research

after developing shin splints after running in a half-marathon in 2016.

“When my son was in day care, he told me his friend’s father was running in the Boston Marathon, and he showed me a picture of him in the newspaper,” said Trivedi, an employee of Dell EMC. “He said, ‘Why aren’t you running? Why aren’t you in the newspaper?’ I told him maybe someday I will — you never know.”

Now he is running as part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team to support a young cancer patient and in memory of his late father and grandfather, who died from cancer.

Money raised as part of the DanaFarber Marathon Challenge benefits Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research.

When Trivedi and his family moved to Hopkinton from Dallas in April 2019, they had no idea that the Boston Marathon started there and was an integral part of the community’s identity.

“I was going to start my job on April 15, and my boss told me not to come into the office because Hopkinton would be closed,” Trivedi said. “I asked him why it would be closed, and he told me about the starting line for the Boston Marathon.”

Since then, each year he and his family have stood in front of their home in the Legacy Farms neighborhood, near the end of the race’s first kilometer, to cheer for the runners.

“There are people of all kinds running — all colors, genders, races and abilities,” he said. “It’s so much motiva-

tion to run that you almost cry.”

Last year, his wife, Hiranya, decided to plant a magnolia tree in front of their home.

“The significance of the magnolia tree is that it only blooms once a year in the early spring,” said Trivedi. “She told me that by the time it blooms, you will be running in the Boston Marathon.”

The impact of cancer has deeply affected Trivedi. His first run was to raise funds for his father and others battling the disease. He stressed that he never was an avid runner.

“Trust me, I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “I was running in casual shoes.”

Trivedi made the commitment to run on the anniversary of his father’s death from prostate cancer in 2020.

“Because of COVID, I wasn’t able to see him or be there for the last rites,” he explained. “It’s kind of hurting. I lost my dad to cancer. I lost my grandfather to cancer. There are so many people around us who are getting impacted.”

Additional reasons for Trivedi’s run emerged as he began to train. A work colleague encouraged him to run for other cancer patients as well as his family. Colleagues of Trivedi and his wife recently were diagnosed with cancer.

“He told me that for them, it’s a marathon every day,” he explained. “Every day and every mile is different for them. They are going through so much in their personal lives. And it’s not just the patients; it’s their families and what they have to deal with.”

“You’re running to save someone’s life,” he added. “That’s what sticks with me.”

Trivedi has been building up his endurance, gradually progressing from duathlons to 5K and 10K races and half-marathons. But when he was accepted to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team (his fundraising page is at danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/ TR?px=2365725&pg=personal&fr_ id=1930&s), Trivedi became nervous.

“The more I researched it, the more I realized it is one of the toughest marathons in the country,” he explained. “I felt like, what did I get myself into? And Heartbreak Hill! I heard some of the stories about what happens to runners.”

Trivedi then joined the Patient Partners program. It pairs a runner raising funds for Boston Children’s Hospital with a current or former patient. Kota, an 11-year-old Foxborough resident who

has been battling leukemia for the past three years, became Trivedi’s “source of energy.” Trivedi, his wife, and his children, Dwij and Nia, recently met Kota at a bowling alley to introduce themselves.

“When we first saw him, my wife and son said, ‘You’ve got to do it for him.’ They have put their faith in me, so I’ve got to go do it.”

Meeting Kota was an existential experience for everyone, Trivedi said.

“My son went up to Kota and said, ‘I’ve seen you in my dreams,’ ” Trivedi said. “And Kota said, ‘I’ve seen you and your mother, too!’ It was so powerful.”

Kota would use all of his strength to bowl, Trivedi said. After resting, he would bounce back, full of enthusiasm.

Said Trivedi: “As I watched him, I thought that if he can spend three years fighting for his life, I can run for six hours.”

Trivedi and Kota made a poster together that will be displayed at the pasta party the day before the race.

Trivedi said he trains in silence and solitude so that he can “connect with myself and the nature around me.”

“Oftentimes I cry running,” he said. “I think about the trees and how if they are standing tall, why can’t I?”

In addition to his family, his friends and neighbors also have been cheering him on, giving him high fives and shoutouts on his runs as he prepares for the challenge ahead. He hopes to finish in six hours.

“I can’t wait to run to see my wife and kids waiting for me at the finishing line,” Trivedi said. “It gives me goosebumps.”

Darsh Trivedi is set to run his first Boston Marathon.

Trivedi | from page 1

Hopkinton recognizes Ashland for hosting race’s original start line

The 2023 Boston Marathon marks the 100th anniversary of the last time the race started in Ashland. The first Boston Marathon in 1897 measured 24.5 miles and began at Metcalf’s Mill in Ashland, finishing at the Irvington Oval in Boston.

The distance was chosen so it would be similar to the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. That race was 24.8 miles, chosen to remember the distance Pheidippides ran from the plains of Marathon to Athens in 490 B.C. to report the Athenians’ victory over the Persians.

At the 1908 Olympics in London, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria desired for the race to begin at Windsor Castle so the royal family could watch. So the distance was stretched out to 26 miles — from the castle to the Olympic Stadium, with an extra 385 yards so the race could finish around the track.

In 1924, that longer distance was adopted for all marathons, and the Boston Marathon start line was moved to Hopkinton to accommodate the change. Town leaders from Hopkinton invited their counterparts from Ashland to a reception at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts on April 6 to “acknowledge, honor and celebrate” Ashland’s role in the race’s history.

Ortiz to serve as grand marshal

Former Red Sox star David Ortiz will serve as grand marshal of this year’s Boston Marathon, leading the way from Hopkinton to Boston on race morning. Ortiz gave a memorable speech 10 years ago prior to the Red Sox’ first home game after the finish line bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Ortiz will be driven to the finish line in a 2023 Honda Pilot, the race’s official vehicle, and arrive shortly before the race champions break the tape.

Marathon gets new sponsor

Bank of America was introduced late last month as the new presenting partner of the Boston Marathon beginning next year.

“With alignment in values and commitment to both communities and leadership, we’ll work together to enhance one of the world’s great participatory sporting events,” said Jack Fleming, president and CEO of the BAA. “Bank of America will partner with us at every stage to grow, broaden and innovate new pathways in running.”

Together, the BAA and Bank of America will strive to make running more accessible and broaden its impact, the BAA shared in a statement. Bank of America is committed to growing the Boston Marathon’s nonprofit, engagement and philanthropic initiatives, and extending the event’s presence through the hundreds of qualifying races in the bank’s nearly 100 markets across United States and communities around the world.

Start Line Brewing honors Hoyts

Start Line Brewing’s annual charity beer this year honors Boston Marathon legends Rick and Dick Hoyt. Team Hoyt Marathoner IPA recognizes the accomplishments of the father-son duo who inspired millions, with Dick pushing Rick — who has cerebral palsy — in a wheelchair through numerous road races and endurance events.

Dick Hoyt died in 2021 at the age of 80. A road race in his memory — the Dick Hoyt “Yes You Can” Run Together — will be held in Hopkinton on May 27.

During an April 6 ceremony at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, (from left) state Rep. James Arena-DeRosa, Hopkinton Select Board chair Amy Ritterbusch, Ashland Select Board chair Brandi Kinsman and state Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis show off a proclamation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives recognizing Ashland as the original home to the start of the Boston Marathon

PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

Well-traveled marathoner Lennox a late bloomer

Donnelly takes on new distance

Ashley Donnelly was a standout sprinter at Hopkinton High School before graduating in 2019. Now, the 22-year-old recent Syracuse University graduate will attempt the Boston Marathon as a fundraiser for the Korean Church of Greater Boston.

Hopkinton resident Scott Lennox and his daughter, Beth, made news earlier this year when they ran the Maui Oceanfront Marathon in Hawaii in January.

LOCAL RUNNERS

It marked a milestone, as both Scott, 76, and Beth, 50, now have completed a marathon in all 50 states.

Scott did not start marathoning until he turned 50 — despite living down the street from the state line and working for race sponsor John Hancock. He started running in an effort to lose weight, and he was coaxed into his first Boston by a coworker who wanted a running companion.

“She was like my worst nightmare,” Scott recalled in an interview with Boston TV station WCVB. “She just would not let it go. She said, ‘You’ve got to train with me,’ and in fact, over eight months, I lost 50 pounds, and we ran 2003 together.”

Scott became hooked, and Boston became a regular rite of spring. After he retired at age 64, he started running races in other states. He has run 79 marathons, including 17 Bostons and all the World Majors.

Inspired by her father, Beth eventually joined in on the fun. She ran 16 marathons in 15 months so they could complete the 50-state milestone at the same time.

“Sometimes he’s carrying me, and sometimes I’m carrying him,” she said. “But we both get there.”

Said Scott: “We’ve just had fun. There’s always some aspect of every marathon that we’ve done where we’ve had a really good time.”

This Boston marks Scott’s 20th anniversary of marathoning, and he said his coworker who got him started is going to run with him.

“Growing up in Hopkinton, I have had the privilege of watching our small town transform every year into the start line for one of the oldest and most renowned marathons in the world,” Donnelly wrote on her fundraising page (gofund.me/2ff6bf7c). “Feeling the excitement and anticipation of the runners in the air each year, and watching some of the most talented athletes in the world compete, ignited in me a passion to one day do the same. As a track and field athlete in high school, I have always loved running, but as a sprinter, I could have never imagined that I’d be running this many miles so soon.”

Donnelly’s fundraising will support the Korean Church, which sits on Main Street just a few yards from the race’s start line.

“This wonderful church has sat at the start line of the Boston Marathon overlooking the thousands of runners who have come through our small town each year,” Donnelly shared. “For years, the church has also hosted many of the elite runners who have competed not only to finish but to win. The Boston Marathon has always promoted the spirit of community. The Korean Church has represented this marathon spirit for years, and now to give back, I am raising $5,000 for their youth group!”

Goehry goes to bat for Little League

Eliza Goehry, who has lived in Hopkinton for six years with her husband and two sons, will attempt her second marathon — and first in a decade — when she toes the start line Monday.

She is running to raise money for Hopkinton Little League in an effort to keep costs down so that all children have a chance to play.

“As a born and bred New Englander, a longtime runner, and resident of the

Scott Lennox and his daughter, Beth, each have run a marathon in all 50 states.

Former high school sprinter Ashley Donnelly is running Boston for the Korean Church of Greater Boston.

Goehry goes to bat for Little League

Goehry | from page 10

start line town, the idea of crossing that finish line on Boylston Street has been a big dream of mine,” Goehry wrote in her fundraising appeal (leagueathletics.com/ UserForm.asp?RegID=236557&org=hop kintonlittleleague.org). “Additionally, I’m excited to run for the HLL in particular. Baseball has always been a big part of my life, and a source of a lot of great memories. It’s been a lot of fun making new ones these past few seasons by watching [her husband and older son] and others from our community get involved in the program.”

Hopkinton runners

There are 62 Hopkinton residents registered to run this year’s Boston Marathon:

Hill supports health services

Hopkinton’s Vanessa Hill is running to support Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services, specifically mental health and addiction services in Massachusetts. Hill serves as vice president, brand strategy and consumer engagement, at Beth Israel Lahey Health.

“I have worked with this incredible team of people for almost 10 years,” Hill wrote on her fundraising page (givengain.com/ap/vanessa-hill-raising-funds-for-bethisrael-lahey-health). “They are striving to expand access to these vital health services, which are in such great demand.”

Hill has never run a marathon before. She kicked off the year by taking part in the Hopkinton Running Club’s annual New Year’s Day 10-mile run from Hopkinton to Natick.

Gilroy backs her students

Hopkinton resident Alison Gilroy has worked as a guidance counselor at Natick High School for the past 10 years, and she is running Boston to raise money for the school’s financial assistance program.

“I am excited to run for a community that has meant a great deal to me,” she wrote on her fundraising page (gofundme.com/f/alis-boston-marathon-fundraiser). “In my daily work with students, I know how meaningful it is to support various student needs, including financial challenges.”

Gilroy shared that the event has “long been a bucket list item of mine. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to fulfill this personal goal, while also running it for a cause that is important to me.”

Riven runs for Dignity

Chloe Riven is running to support Dignity Matters. The nonprofit supports women and girls who are homeless, living in poverty and disadvantaged by collecting and dispersing essentials such as menstrual care and underwear for them to stay healthy, regain self-confidence, and live with basic dignity.

Through its partnership with Project Just Because in Hopkinton, Dignity Matters supports 130 women and girls each month. The organization also supports women residing in Hopkinton through the Voices Against Violence shelter for victims of domestic violence in MetroWest.

Overall, Dignity Matters serves 15,000 women and girls each month.

Riven’s inspiration is to give back to the community, to honor the victims of the 2013 finish line bombing, and to live life to her fullest since she dealt with a serious medical issue.

“A few years ago, I was hospitalized for septic shock which resulted in relearning how to walk,” Riven shared at givengain.com/ap/chloe-riven-raising-funds-for-dignitymatters. “I have learned that if there is an exciting opportunity for something, to go for it. This marathon, I am feeling confident and more ready than ever!”

Riven is getting her master’s in social work at Columbia

Riven | page 12

By Courtney Cornelius Contributing Writer

Like most people not directly affected by diabetes, Ian Brohm didn’t know what a bolus was or what beta cells do.

Then he met Kelsey Payne.

Payne was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes — wherein the pancreas produces little or no insulin — when she was just 6 years old. When the pair connected at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire and started dating, Brohm saw firsthand what is required to manage the condition.

“Those little things you don’t really think about if you’re not dealing with it, and everything that we take for granted, she can’t,” he explained. Snacks and insulin must be on hand at all times; needle pricks are a regular necessity. “She has to test her blood sugar levels before and after exercising, because she could go high or low all the sudden.”

Diabetes is a serious health issue; however, when it’s properly handled, people like Payne can enjoy happy, active lives. Joslin Diabetes Center has been delivering worldrenowned research and care for those struggling with diabetes for more than 120 years. Payne has been a patient there since

“Joslin has helped Kelsey and her family, and many others like them, navigate the unknown path that comes with the life-changing diagnosis of diabetes,” Brohm said.

So Brohm decided to run the 2023 Boston Marathon with Team Joslin for Joslin Diabetes Center (givengain.com/ ap/ian-brohm-raising-funds-for-joslindiabetes-center-beth-israel-lahey-health-). It’s his first live, on-site Boston (he participated in the virtual event in 2021) and first fundraising event.

“It isn’t always easy to get selected for a team, so I’m just really fortunate to be running not only on a team, but on one that means so much to me,” he said.

A 2010 graduate of Hopkinton High School, Brohm ran track and played soccer in high school and in college. He continues to stay active, whether in the gym, running, biking or hiking.

Even so, he acknowledged that training for a marathon has been “intense.” He runs several days a week and already had completed 8 miles by time he conducted this interview at 10 a.m. on a Saturday.

“[Beth Israel Lahey Health] sent out a training program that’s about 20 weeks long, so I’ve been following that,” he said, and was quick to note that Payne supports him as much as he supports her.

“She’s there pushing me through every challenge,” he emphasized, adding that Payne is “a huge inspiration” to him.

Riven runs for Dignity

Riven | from page 11

University, specializing in aging, gerontology and end-of-life care.

Brown pounds pavement for library

Nick Brown and his young family moved to Hopkinton in 2014 “in pursuit of fresh air, our own space and a good school system for our growing family.”

At the same time, the Hopkinton Public Library Foundation (HPLF) was working to renovate and expand the library. Now, the HPLF is working on a new project (among others), a “library of things.”

Brown is running the Boston Marathon to raise funds for the organization and this “wonderful new resource.”

This will be Brown’s first marathon.

“I have always had a passion for everything active and outdoors, including running, of course!” he shared on his fundraising page (hplfinc.org/nickbrownbostonmarathon2023). “Over the years, I’ve participated in dozens of road races of varying lengths and types, including several half-marathons. However, I have never run the full 26.2 [miles]. Growing up in Massachusetts, running Boston has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember!

And, after living here in the town where it all begins for nearly a decade, the Boston Marathon has become a point of pride. Watching Hopkinton awaken from a long winter, alongside the grass and flowers, never gets old. My family and I love welcoming and cheering on the thousands of athletes from around the world. It’s been so exciting to be a part of from the sidelines, but I’m looking forward to finally getting in the game!”

Brohm | page 13

Callinan accepts challenge for KeepSmilin4Abbie

By Sidhi Dhanda Contributing Writer

More than 15 million people in the United States are in danger of experiencing anaphylaxis, a severe allergic response brought on by contact with specific foods, substances, medicines and insect stings.

Devin Callinan, a Hopkinton resident since 2016, will run his first marathon this year to raise money for the KeepSmilin4Abbie Foundation, an organization dedicated to preventing anaphylaxis. The charity was founded in 2014 in memory of Abbie Benford, a Hopkinton High School student who lost her life after an anaphylaxis reaction just eight days before her 16th birthday.

Callinan and his family know the dangers of anaphylaxis personally. Callinan’s 5-year-old son, Nolan, already has had two anaphylactic reactions. When Nolan was 18 months old, Callinan’s wife, Meghan, a nurse for over 15 years, had to administer an EpiPen injection.

“If you don’t do that within five or six minutes, the odds of survival actually drop precipitously,” Callinan said. “The folks at the hospital told her that she certainly saved his life.”

Callinan did not always realize how severe allergies can be.

“My brother actually had a pretty minor allergy growing up to walnuts, and he might get hives and be a little bit itchy,” Callinan said. “It is not as innocent as getting some hives and being fine, but that is what I always thought it was.”

Through social media, the Callinans learned about KeepSmilin4Abbie. After meeting with foundation co-founder Stephen Benford, Abbie’s father, Callinan was given this year’s bib to run in the Boston Marathon.

“Devin and his family are amazing ambassadors representing exactly who we’re trying to help through our research goals and our awareness programs,” Benford said.

The farthest distance Callinan had run before beginning training was a halfmarathon, but running a full marathon had been a bucket list item for him. On the shoelaces of his running shoes, Callinan has tags with Abbie and Nolan’s names on them.

“If I’m struggling up the hill or in crummy weather, looking down at my

shoes is good motivation,” Callinan said.

On marathon day, Callinan’s wife and three children will be cheering him from different spots along the way to the finish line.

As of early April, almost $30,000 had been raised for the foundation via Callinan’s fundraising page (givengain. com/activist/689560). The money will go toward anaphylaxis research as well as the foundation’s scholarship program. The organization has partnered with the Wyss Institute at Harvard and the Matthews Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, which are researching the biomarkers that could lead to a wearable anaphylaxis device that alerts someone at high risk for anaphylaxis and potentially administer epinephrine.

While training on Heartbreak Hill

in Newton, Callinan saw many other charity runners for organizations such as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital also training. Callinan realized that running itself is not a difficult task — simply putting one foot in front of the other. The true difficulty lies with families who have lost a loved one or are watching their children battle a serious illness.

“An event like this where you can raise so much money for so many wonderful causes by doing something that a lot of others think is really hard but in comparison to those things is not very hard has just been an incredibly rewarding experience so far,” Callinan said.

Brohm pounds pavement for diabetes research

“She never complains about diabetes, and she does a great job of managing it. I’ve got the easy part, running 26.2 miles in April; she deals with this day in and day out.”

Brohm wants to help fund research and treatment not only for Payne but for the hundreds of millions who are affected by diabetes and continue to wait for a cure.

“I think I’m more anxious about the fundraising than the training, to be honest,” he shared. “This race is bigger than me — it’s about running for them, all the people around the world who are struggling with this … and I want to raise money and help them as much as I can.”

Devin Callinan stands next to the George Brown Boston Marathon starter statue at the Town Common.

Brohm | from page 12

Run like a bunny...

Doyle takes on Boston in memory of childhood friend

By Chris Villani Contributing Writer

Hopkinton resident

Jeff Doyle is taking part in the 2023 Boston Marathon in memory of a childhood friend and in support of a cause that is helping numerous families with children who are seeking medical care in Boston.

Doyle is running for Live4Evan, which was founded in memory of Evan Girardi, who passed away in 2010 due to complications stemming from a congenital heart defect. Doyle and some of his friends set up a charity in Girardi’s memory, and Doyle has been tapped to run this year’s Boston Marathon to raise funds (givengain. com/activist/533972/).

“He was great, he was probably the nicest person that anybody had ever met,” Doyle said. “You could always rely on him for anything you needed and I think that’s why this has grown as big as it has. Everybody had a connection to Evan.”

Live4Evan provides housing for families traveling to the Boston area so their children can be treated for congenital heart defects.

“People are flying in from all over because we have the best hospitals,” Doyle said. “The idea is to provide housing for those families when they are in need so they don’t end up sleeping on the hospital floor. They can get a good night’s rest before going through this challenging time.”

This is Doyle’s second year running the marathon for Live4Evan. Last year, he got sick just days before the race and the already challenging course became even more so. This year, he is hopeful for good weather and better health. Either way, his

friend will be top of mind as he tackles the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Copley Square.

Doyle recalled playing backyard soccer with Girardi and a group of friends for hours on end during summer days before heading off to someone’s pool for a swim. When they weren’t outdoors, they spent time playing hockey video games.

The charity in Girardi’s memory has continued to grow through the years and, even as it serves more families in need, Doyle said there is a wait list for people to get in.

Doyle said his official fundraising goal is $10,000, but he is hoping the final tally is closer to the $17,000 he raised last year, or even more. He joked that he intentionally set a low bar in terms of his

Cole motivated by family, military service

By Courtney Cornelius Contributing Writer

Navy veteran Robbie Cole will return to his hometown of Hopkinton and tackle his first marathon April 17, a venture that will benefit Semper Fi & America’s Fund.

A 2014 graduate of Hopkinton High School, Cole attended Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire and then joined the Navy, serving for four years as an intelligence specialist.

“As a young kid, I’d always felt I had a calling toward the military. I knew from a young age it was something I was going to end up doing. I just was so thankful and proud of my country,” Cole said.

“I think the toughest thing was just being away from friends and family for so long, being away from home,” he shared. “I kind of realized how important my family and friends were to me, and realized I wanted to move back home and be around them.”

Now a resident of South Boston, Cole works in finance at BNY Mellon as a lead analyst and solutions consultant. This will be his first marathon.

“I knew I wanted to run the [Boston] Marathon, from growing up, watching it as a kid, it was always kind of on my bucket list, something I knew I wanted to do one day,” he said.

Seeking a challenge after returning to civilian life, Cole started training and signed up for a half-marathon, which he ran in October 2022. “I did really good at that, and then picked up training for the marathon in December, right after Christmas.”

Choosing to run for Semper Fi & America’s Fund (givengain.com/activist/661107/projects/52269) was “kind of a no-brainer,” said Cole, who wants to give something back to those who have given so much in the name of freedom.

Semper Fi & America’s Fund supports and cares for the nation’s critically

Jeff Doyle, shown after running the Walt Disney World Marathon in January, will run Boston to raise money for the Hopkinton-based Live4Evan charity.

Gendron’s run honors father, helps Spaulding Rehab

By Jane Bigda Contributing Writer

People run a marathon for myriad reasons — as an athletic feat, to raise money for charity, to achieve a personal goal. Danielle Gendron is running in the 127th Boston Marathon to honor her father, Arthur L. Gendron Jr., who passed away from pancreatic cancer in February 2022. She also is running to raise funds for the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, which helped her father recover from his 2019 stroke.

Growing up in Hopkinton, she attended the race with her dad. “Some of my earliest memories were of him bringing me to the start line in a stroller and holding me on his shoulders to see all the runners,” she said.

She continued, “My father had his first stroke in 2019. He spent a week in the hospital, unable to communicate or complete basic tasks. Luckily, he was admitted to Spaulding Rehab Hospital for treatment. I was able to watch and help as the amazing staff and my father put in the work to restore speech, mobility and independence. Spaulding Rehab gave my father back his life.

“Unfortunately, my father passed away in February of 2022 from pancreatic cancer, but in those two years he would frequently declare that each day was a gift, and Spaulding allowed that gift to be the most that it could be.”

As a Spaulding donor, Gendron received a notice in November that the organization was looking for charity runners. “I jumped at the chance,” she said. “It was a way to give purpose to my grief

and to raise money for an organization that helped my dad.” She added, “They literally and figuratively got him back on his feet.”

Having run a few half-marathons in 2022, including the one sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association in November, Gendron felt she was in good shape. She

said training for her previous runs had been another connection with her dad. “I used to call him on my runs, since he was the only person up at that time,” Gendron said with a laugh. “Training makes me feel close to him.”

Gendron selected one of the training plans provided by the Spaulding team coach. “I started formal training in mid-December,” she said, running various routes in Manhattan, where she now lives. She met with the Spaulding team, which now has 81 members, in January and planned to run with the group a few more times before the April 17 race.

Although a little nervous about running the complete 26.2 miles, Gendron is honored to be taking part in something that was an important part of her childhood. “It was an exciting event for the whole town,” said Gendron. She remembers the fun of the event held at Elmwood School when the Kenyan runners would visit. “We would have an assembly, shake hands with all the runners and sing the Kenyan national anthem. It was a yearly event in my childhood,” she said.

It also holds a lot of family memories. “We would be at the same spot each year and would see which of us could get the most high fives from the runners,” she said,

Hopkinton is behind

referring to her two siblings. Both have competed in the Boston Marathon — sister Andrea ran in 2017 to benefit the Martin Richard Foundation, and brother Grant ran in 2022 for the Boston Public Library. They and her mother plan to attend this year’s event to cheer for her.

Summing up her feelings, Gendron said, “I know what the Marathon means for our town, and this particular year it means the world to me,”

To support Gendron and raise funds for Spaulding Rehab, visit givengain.com/ ap/danielle-gendron-raising-funds-forspaulding-rehabilitation-network.

Doyle takes on Boston in memory of childhood friend

Doyle | from page 14

finishing time last year so that it would be easy to top this time around.

“Trying to run Heartbreak Hill last year while being sick was a struggle,” Doyle said. “Hopefully this day will be a little easier.”

Being a Hopkinton resident who lives just steps from the start line, he said it’s a joy to be able to run his hometown race.

“The whole race is awesome, from start to finish,” Doyle said. “I ran into so many people from high school and college and it’s a great motivator. Every time you see somebody, it gives you a little shot of adrenaline.”

He added with a chuckle, “You want to look good out there.”

Hopkinton native Danielle Gendron, shown doing a recent training run in New York’s Morningside Park, is running in the 2023 Boston Marathon in memory of her father, Arthur L. Gendron Jr., and to raise funds for the Spaulding Rehabilitation Network.

Gonzalez runs to inspire generosity, determination

By Linda Chuss Contributing Writer

For Hopkinton resident Erik Gonzalez, the Boston Marathon is his first-ever running event. His motive is to encourage people to be generous and inspire them to realize achievements that others may call impossible. On both accounts, he serves as an extraordinary example.

“Thirty years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,” Gonzalez said. “With MS, the immune system damages the protective covering of nerves. Symptoms can range from numbness and muscle spasms to debilitating loss of function. It can be fatal. Given the disease, I’m fortunate to be able to run the Marathon, though every step of the way, many people have told me all about what I can’t do. One of my aims is for others to see what you can do in spite of obstacles.”

Nearly as impressive is the fact that Gonzalez began running only last March. Facing a period of midlife questioning, he wanted to put energy into something new. His choice to run the Boston Marathon stemmed from the experience of a friend who needed a knee replacement but instead of getting surgery, ran the Boston race. As a result, Gonzalez went from the couch to a 22-mile run in just a year. “Staying motivated for this long has been life changing,” he said.

Gonzalez wanted to be a charity runner to raise money for the Hopkinton Masonic Benevolent Fund. “The organi-

zation helps local kids and senior citizens who have needs that aren’t being met,” he explained. “Like the family who lost nearly everything in a fire and received money for new clothes. And the single parent working three jobs who was able to provide nice gifts to her children at the holidays because of their donation. One student wanted to complete a driver’s education program so he could get his license to take his grandmother to appointments. His family couldn’t afford the program, but the fund made it possible.”

Generosity like that is a key reason Gonzalez became a Mason. “My wife, Dana, and I moved to Massachusetts from New York in 2014 and I didn’t know many people here,” he recalled. “By joining the lodge in town, I met many different types of people, but all of them want to give back.”

Not only did Gonzalez find new acquaintances, but the fraternity with his fellow Masons is almost stronger than with blood brothers. Two of them, Chris Stevenson and Gerardo Toledo, are seasoned marathoners and provide support by running with him on the lengthy training routes, even though they are not participating in the Boston race this year.

Gonzalez also benefits from his wife’s support. “Dana is my rock,” he said. “To keep me safe, she gave me the neon green jacket you may see me wearing when I’m running around town.”

Family, friends and people who know Gonzalez from his endodontics practice, as well as some people he doesn’t know, have supported his marathon fundraising (givengain.com/activist/696574/). Gonzalez said, “I don’t like to ask for favors for myself. And even though it is still a challenge for me to request donations, I do it because I know underprivileged children and seniors who are struggling to afford essentials like food and medicine will benefit. People have been very generous. Each contribution will really help people.”

On race day, Gonzalez will warm up at the Masonic lodge, just feet from the starting line, along with other Masons who are running. After that, he’ll have the support of the crowd and volunteers and be accompanied by thoughts of those who will be better off from the donations he has raised.

Cole motivated by family, military service

wounded, ill or injured service members, veterans and military families in all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. It provides immediate financial assistance and lifetime support for veterans.

Case managers work one-on-one with service members and veterans to understand and respond to their individual needs with an array of programs, such as transportation assistance, residential accessibility modifications, specialized adaptive equipment, visiting nurses and even a caregiver retreat. The fund’s Integrative Wellness Program offers a holistic approach to long-term health and fosters healing through animal therapy, art and music.

Established in 2003 by military spouses who volunteered to provide bedside support to those injured overseas, the organization strives to keep overhead low to maximize its impact on the lives of those it serves.

The fund’s website echoes the sentiment expressed by Cole when asked what was hardest about being in the military: “We understand and deeply appreciate the bonds of family and service so vital throughout the journey.”

Erik Gonzalez’s first-ever road race is the Boston Marathon, which he’s running to raise money for the Hopkinton Masonic Benevolent Fund.

2023 Boston Marathon — May the wind be at your back!

Cole | from page 14

Howard makes Boston debut to support youth lacrosse

By Chris Villani Contributing Writer

Mark Howard is achieving his goal a bit later than anticipated, but he’s about to check running the Boston Marathon off his bucket list.

“I always had a goal of running Boston before I turned 40, and the plan was to run the Vermont City Marathon and then run Boston,” Howard said. “I was about 10 weeks into training for Vermont when COVID shut everything down.”

Howard deferred his entry into the Vermont race until last spring, when he completed the Burlington course and set the table for his upcoming Boston run.

“Boston has always been the goal,” he said.

Howard is running to support Hopkinton Youth Lacrosse. Both of his sons participate in the program and he has gotten to know Ed O’Donnell, who runs the organization.

“I love what they do for the kids,” he said. “I wanted to try to give back.”

Howard is seeking to raise $5,000 to support the program (hoplax.com). A physical therapist, his race training has been aided by the fact that his boss is a Boston Marathon runner and comes from a long line of marathon competitors.

“He writes my programs for me and he knows my injury history,” Howard said.

The weather has been better than average this winter and early spring, al-

lowing Howard to log some miles. But he prefers cross training as opposed to always tackling lengthy training runs.

Howard also has a strong connection to the course. He previously lived in Newton, he went to school at Northeastern, and now he lives less than 2 miles from the start line in Hopkinton. For the past few years, he and his son have gotten up on Patriots’ Day to see the elite runners take off.

After experiencing the marathon as a spectator from all angles, he said he is “intrigued” to find out what it’s like on the other side of the spectrum as a runner. And he will have the added bonus, as a local, of being able to sleep in his own bed the night before the race.

With so many elements that are beyond his control on race day, Howard said he is grateful to be able to have the relatively easy logistics leading up to the event itself and a training plan that he believes in.

“If I don’t run my best or my time isn’t the best, I know it won’t be because I didn’t put the work in,” he said. “Everything I can control I have controlled, and I am confident I have done what I can do to succeed.”

One open question as Howard prepares to embark on his first Boston Marathon is whether it will be the first and last, or the first of many?

“I am somebody who likes to have things to train for, but if something doesn’t go well this year, I know I am going to come back and try again,” he said. “I get the feeling I will get the itch to do it again.”

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John Mulroy, MD

Michael Vazquez, MD

Helder Garcia, PA-C

Sports Medicine

John Andrea, DO, CAQSM

Amy Costa, MD, CAQSM

Kevin Jillson, MD, CAQSM

Mark Howard, shown with sons Drew (11) and Wes (7) and wife Rachelle, is set to run his first Boston Marathon as a fundraiser for Hopkinton Youth Lacrosse.

Best of Luck to our Hopkinton Runners

Local parents go distance to stop glycogen disease

508-497-6344

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By Courtney Cornelius Contributing Writer

Glycogen Storage Disease

Type 1b

(GSD1b) is a life-threatening, extremely rare genetic disease in which the body is missing the enzyme required to convert glycogen into glucose. People with GSD constantly are at risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), and if not on a very strict diet and scheduled doses of corn starch, they can suffer seizures, fall into a coma and possibly even die.

Sophie LaFreniere was diagnosed with GSD1b in September 2019 at the age of 2.

Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications for this condition. But Sophie’s parents were determined to find help for their young daughter. They created Sophie’s Hope Foundation (sophieshopefoundation.org), a registered 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in Hopkinton, in 2020 with a mission to fund research and development of new treatments and, ultimately, a cure.

They didn’t stop there: Sophie’s mother, Margot, raised $22,000 for the Foundation in 2022 with her first Boston Marathon. This year, dad Jamas will step up to the start line for another fundraiser (givengain.com/cc/sophieshopebostonmarathon2023/).

“Curing a rare disease is a marathon, and we’ll run as many of these things as we have to,” Jamas vowed.

The Boston Marathon is one of the biggest events for raising awareness and critical to funding multiyear projects. For instance, in 2022, Sophie’s Hope Foundation approved and began funding a grant under the leadership of Dr. Priya Kishnani at Duke University to help better understand and characterize GSD1b. It also partnered with Jackson Laboratory and Dr. Nicola BrunettiPierri to develop a conditional knockout mouse model.

A mouse model is a way to create a mouse with GSD1b. It makes it much

easier for doctors to begin research and make progress on treatment. The mouse will be publicly available to researchers in spring 2023.

“The fact that we’ve now been able to put this mRNA in a mouse and see how it responds is pretty incredible,” Jamas remarked. “So that was really important for us.”

Other accomplishments include becoming a founding member of the Global Genes Foundation Alliance; attending the Global Genes and University of Pennsylvania Rare Disease Drug Development Symposium in Philadelphia; initiating and leading a patient-led listening session with the FDA; and introducing the GSD1b Strong Patient Spotlight Series and blog, a project to highlight GSD1b patients and families.

“Another important thing we did in 2022 was we engaged with two pharma companies to start working on a therapy and a cure,” Jamas shared. “There’s still a long, long way to go, but we have some interest.”

That in itself was a significant hurdle that required the foundation do a lot of the legwork.

“One of the hardest things for an ultra-rare disease is to get the industry interested and willing to work with you, just because of the cost and complexity,” he explained. Drug development takes time and money; when a disease affects only a couple thousand, “it takes an organization like ours to fund the studies and prove it and get people to do it,” he added.

In addition to fundraising and research as well as raising awareness, community building has become an important component of the Foundation’s work. In partnership with RareX and Global Genes, it went live with GSD1b’s first and only online patient registry.

The site is a patient advocacy group, connecting parents around the world Glycogen disease | page 19

Jamas LaFreniere holds his daughters, Sophie (left) and Ali.

Leal runs to remember veterans

By Courtney Cornelius

Contributing Writer

who speaks proudly of her family’s strong history of service.

really quickly, ‘It’s yours!’ … So, that was the sign!”

by the Natick Elks to benefit HVCC.

W

ith Cassandra Leal coming from a military family, it’s appropriate that she is running the Boston Marathon for the first time as a fundraiser for the Hopkinton Veterans Celebration Committee.

The HVCC was established to remember and honor veterans. Committee members are appointed by the Select Board.

“[It’s] affiliated with the actual Town of Hopkinton, so it’s a subcommittee that handles the parades and other community events to drive and support community awareness around veterans,” Leal explained.

The HVCC organizes the annual Memorial Day ceremonies and activities, plans the Veterans Day appreciation dinner, and assists with the monthly Old Guard New England taps vigil. The organization, chaired by Mike Whalen, partners with runners to raise money for these experiences and gets its Boston Marathon bibs through the town (which receives a set number from the Boston Athletic Association).

Leal is a 36-year-old mother of two who works full-time as connections director at The Life Church in Leominster. A graduate of Worcester State College with a B.S. in business administration, she previously worked nine years at global healthcare company Sanofi.

Supporting and honoring veterans in the community is important to Leal,

“My family is a military family. … My dad was in the Air Force, my husband is a veteran of the Marine Corps, both my grandfathers served, so there’s a lot of history for me tied to veterans,” she said.

“Specifically, this opportunity came up through a running community I had through my previous employer. We had a running team through Sanofi — we would partner with Patient Partners through the National Organization for Rare Disorders. So, they would match a runner with a patient, and then we would find specific events to raise funds and awareness for that disease,” Leal explained.

“It was a really cool opportunity, because being part of that, I met a whole bunch of runners … and at that time, I was literally, I think, running only 5Ks, and then I ended up running half marathons!”

It was through that community she learned “there were a couple [of charity] bibs floating around — and I’ve had the Boston Marathon on my bucket list, probably since I started running in 2013.

“I actually had a love-hate running relationship, so it was interesting,” she confessed. “I dragged my feet, to be honest. … I waited, because they go really fast — you know, we live in Boston, so everyone wants to run it, so I was like, ‘I’m just going to wait,’ and I prayed on it, and about two weeks later, it was still available, so I reached out and kind of was like, ‘If it’s still available, then it’s my time.’ And Mike responded

Her fundraising page can be found at gofund.me/2ee6a0b3.

Despite her 10 years of running experience, Leal insisted, “I don’t love running, and I don’t run often!” She does, however, love running for causes, and started doing the annual Race to Educate 5K when her children began attending Saint Columbkille Partnership School. She usually does a half-marathon once a year, and also participated in a cornhole fundraising event hosted

For training, “My dog is my running partner — I have a chocolate Lab who’s 2 years old and has a bunch of energy, so she and I will go out for 3- to 5-mile runs,” she said, adding that she recently joined a gym to better prepare for the challenge of her first marathon.

Leal’s military connections and sense of dedication are evidenced by her mentality. Although she’s unsure if she has the requisite endurance, “I’m counting on my determination to get me through it!” she said.

Local parents go distance to stop glycogen disease

and helping those newly diagnosed to cope, and serves as a data collection platform, allowing the foundation as well as patients to tap the expertise of those with lived experience and build a network of support.

Jamas noted how this has underscored the “challenges and inequities and unfairness in the rare disease space; people are left to navigate and research on their own.

“Honestly, I, selfishly, wanted to treat and help Sophie, but you talk to parents in India and Pakistan and they don’t have the same ability to get corn starch. … You just see the dire circumstances all over the place,” he lamented. “So now I’ve become that much more committed and passionate about it.”

Sophie, now age 5, has started preschool and plays soccer. She loves hanging out with her sister Ali and going

to ninja class, and takes the corn starch regimen and the frequent hospital visits in stride.

“She skied this winter, she went ice skating. … If you ask her, she’s doing great,” Jamas said. “I try to keep it positive; but I don’t want to gloss over how hard a winter it’s been for her, how challenging it is for someone with a rare metabolic disease to maintain your health.”

It’s that indomitable spirit Sophie demonstrates every day that motivates Jamas to train for and run his first-ever marathon — no small feat, he acknowledged, “at the ripe age of 40!” But he and Margot will continue to do whatever it takes.

“Sophie, she’s such a trooper. We all use those words when it comes to this disease, ‘These kids are so tough, so resilient’ — but she shouldn’t have to be.”

Glycogen disease | from page 18

Friend’s cancer battle inspires Niemi’s endeavor

By Jerry Spar Managing Editor

About six years ago, Kimberly Niemi and Colleen Rommel met as many Hopkinton parents do — when their children started playing together and became friends.

Soon, the families, each with three young children, started spending more time together — especially the mothers.

“We developed a very close friendship,” Niemi said. “Our kids do a lot of the same sports, so we’re on the sidelines together. We do girls trips together, go to the beach together, our families go to Red Sox games and basketball games and other things together. So we have a special family friendship in addition to just the two of us.”

A year after the mothers met, Rommel started getting headaches. A visit to the hospital revealed a shocking and scary diagnosis: a type of invasive brain tumor called Grade 2 diffuse astrocytoma.

Surgery to remove most of the tumor was followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments over the course of about a year.

“She handled it with the utmost strength, I think more than anyone could endure,” Niemi said. “She never complained.”

That strength inspired Niemi to take on a challenge that she had kept in the back of her mind for many years — running the Boston Marathon.

Niemi had thought about trying to run Boston since she was a student at Boston College and cheered on runners as they passed by the school. She has run a half-marathon and the Falmouth Road Race, but she took some time off when her kids were born.

“I had an itch to run the Marathon but never did,” she said. “After moving to Hopkinton, the itch came back. We watch it every year we’re here. The runners pass right by the

top of our street. After my youngest was born, I took running up again. I’m a leisurely runner, very amateur, take my time, don’t go fast.”

After joining the online group Moms Run this Town, Niemi started training with three other mothers and made the commitment to run 26.2 miles.

“It just never seemed like the right year for me to run Boston, with young kids and then COVID and one thing after the next,” she said. “This year felt like the right year for me.”

Knowing she would not run a fast enough time to qualify, Niemi turned her attention to running for a charity.

“In thinking about charities that I would want to run for, the National Brain Tumor Society was front and center, pretty much the only charity that came to mind,” she said. “I reached out to them pretty early. The people there were so welcoming and warm and went to bat for me to get a bib.”

There are three other runners on the National Brain Tumor Society team — two survivors and one who lost a brother to a brain tumor — and the four have combined to raise more than $100,000.

“People are so generous,” Niemi said. “More people than I realized have been affected by brain tumors — people that I know, people that I don’t know. To know that someday we will be finding a cure because of the funds we’ve raised has been very rewarding.”

Rommel expressed gratitude for those who have helped fund research into developments to treat such cancers.

“I feel so very blessed to have friends like Kim who have supported me from day one through my cancer journey,” she shared. “I feel so lucky to have her in my life. Kim’s support along with my incredible husband, family and friends has given me the strength over the past 4 1/2 years to continue to fight this uphill battle. Like me, there are so many individuals out there who deal with the unimaginable diagnosis of brain cancer. The only way that we are able to survive is through the medical interventions required. These interventions are the results of research from the incredible doctors able to complete the research with the fundraising donations.”

While Niemi’s fundraising has gone well (givengain.com/ap/kimberly-niemiraising-funds-for-national-brain-tumorsociety), her training took a detour in late February when she had to have surgery to remove her gallbladder.

“I was in discomfort, couldn’t take a full breath, my running was horrible that week,” she recalled. A trip to the hospital determined she had an inflamed gallbladder, and she had it removed three days later. After returning home, she tried walking a mile outside, only to become dizzy.

“It was not a good walk. I was not sure how I was going to do the Marathon,” she said. After taking the next day off, she walked 3 miles and slowly returned to running.

“I’m fully recovered and running again,” she said. “I can’t believe I had surgery in the midst of all this. Also, at the very beginning of training, I had COVID.

Kim Niemi (right) is running Boston to support brain cancer research in an effort to help her friend Colleen Rommel (left).

McSweeney a champion for children

By Courtney Cornelius Contributing Writer

Kyla McSweeney walks the talk when it comes to her belief in the importance of highquality early education for all.

We’re working moms who meet in the morning and run before work, and it’s nice to have that time to chitchat and bond with other people while getting some exercise, too. … It makes you feel good throughout the day.

— Kyla McSweeney

Originally from Connecticut, McSweeney went to Wheelock College in Boston and majored in early childhood education. After graduating, she found a job as a Head Start preschool teacher, then as a teacher at a childcare center at Harvard Business School while getting her master’s degree.

“Most development happens within the first five years of life,” McSweeney said. “I love seeing the process as young children develop and learn.”

McSweeney obtained a degree in leadership and policy in early care and education from Wheelock. Then, while working at the Massachusetts Department of Education, she went to law school. After receiving her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2003, she got a fellowship to work on childcare issues in the law, and then did special education law for a year.

She’s held director-level positions at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and at Quinsigamond Community College as well as Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Presently, she’s the director of comprehensive system supports at Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. A nonprofit educational leader, her experience spans policy analysis, grant management, fundraising, community outreach and program development.

McSweeney has devoted her lengthy and impressive career to early childhood education. This year, she’ll go a step further and run the Boston Marathon to benefit Horizons for Homeless Children (givengain.com/ap/kyla-mcsweeney-raising-fundsfor-horizons-for-homeless-children).

This will be her first marathon.

Seeking a good school system and an environment close to both family and nature, McSweeney moved from Boston to Hopkinton with her husband, James Burton, in 2007. They have a son, Quinn, age 13, and daughter, Sierra, age 10.

McSweeney said she ran a bit in her early 30s but had never been an “athlete.” After having children, she wanted to be more active, so she joined the Hopkinton Running Club’s Couch to 5K program in 2019.

“I met a lot of friends through that group, as well as Moms Run This Town,” she shared. “We’re working moms who meet in the morning and run before work, and it’s nice to have that time to chitchat and bond with other people while getting some exercise, too. … It makes you feel good throughout the day.” She’s since completed a 5K, a 10K and two half-marathons.

McSweeney became acquainted with Horizons for Homeless Children when she was working as a preschool teacher and babysat a student whose family was attending Horizons’ annual gala.

“Horizons has been a leader in Massachusetts in making early education accessible for so many children as well as making a difference in the lives of families,” she wrote on her fundraising page.

Horizons for Homeless Children provides high-quality early education and operates one of the state’s top-ranked early education programs, placing children on the path to school success. It also has a Playspace Program to provide opportunities for play to children living in shelters.

McSweeney noted the organization offers good wraparound services, including family support and parenting programs that give families upward economic mobility.

“It’s just a really great, comprehensive program that meets the needs of some of the children who most need it in Massachusetts,” she said.

Horizons’ vision is that “every homeless child will have the opportunity to learn, play and thrive.” McSweeney believes that’s important not just for those who receive Horizons’ services, but for society as a whole.

“I feel strongly that our economy, our world, revolves around a good early education and care system,” she said. “We need a strong system that allows kids to be cared for so that parents can work and kids can thrive and grow and do better in school.”

Friend’s cancer battle inspires Niemi’s endeavor

And [in late March] I was running on Hayden Rowe and took an awful spill — bruised, cut, the whole thing. But I just get back up and keep going. I have this goal in my mind and I’m going to get it done. I’m also thinking, this little blip pales in comparison to what someone with a brain tumor has to go through. I mean, I had laparoscopic surgery in

Support Kate’s Marathon Run for Land Conservation

• Kate Sorgi Coleman is running the Boston Marathon to support the Land Trust with a bib number donated by the BAA. Please donate on our website.

• Each donation includes a one-year membership in the Land Trust

• Visit: Hopkintonlandtrust.org/donations/ marathon

• The Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

my abdomen. It’s not like I had brain surgery, because that is just a whole other level.

“So I guess I’m realizing that A, I’m super grateful for my health and how my body has been able to recover, and B, it’s an unwavering commitment to the goal. I have the mental strength, and that’s been eye-opening to me, very rewarding and fulfilling.”

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James Burton Owner/Broker (617) 549-5024 77 West Main St. Hopkinton

Late wife’s battle with cancer pushes Parduhn to go distance

By Mary Ellen Gambon Contributing Writer

Hopkinton resident Michael Parduhn connected with Meg, his late wife, in Chicago years ago through running. Now he is using their shared passion as a way to raise awareness about ovarian cancer, the disease that took her life more than four years ago, by running as part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team in the Boston Marathon.

Parduhn will be easy to spot in the packed field of runners, he said, because he will be sporting a teal tutu. The idea was suggested by his eldest daughter, Taylor, so that he could catch people’s attention. Teal is the color associated with ovarian cancer, he noted.

“I just wear it for the long runs,” the Virginia native explained, noting this is his first Boston Marathon appearance. “It gets a lot of support from other runners, and people in cars will beep and give me a thumbs up. It’s fun to see people smile. My daughter asked me why I don’t wear it every day.”

This year marks the 34th annual running of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. All of the money raised by the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team benefits Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge has raised more than $115 million for the Barr Program to date, and there are more than 500 members from around the world on the DFMC team this year.

Parduhn said that he and Meg, a Michigan native who was a work colleague in Chicago, first became interested in running together when they watched Chicago Marathon runners speed past his condominium there.

“I saw all the excitement, so I asked

her if she wanted to run it with me,” he said.

“At first she said, ‘No, that’s stupid,’” Parduhn explained with a laugh, noting they eventually ran it together in 1995. “But she was big into fitness, so we started training together and began dating. It was a good way for us to be together and work things out as a young couple. Plus, we were both very stubborn.”

The Parduhns moved to Braintree when Michael pursued his MBA at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They returned to Meg’s old neighborhood in Michigan and lived there for four years while he worked for Ford Motor Company.

Parduhn said the couple moved to Hopkinton after he was “offered a job with a retail restaurant start-up.” Drawn to Hopkinton because of its stellar public school system, the young family initially rented an apartment for a year before purchasing a house about 15 years ago and establishing roots here.

“We came here because the school system was rated in the top 100 in Boston Magazine,” he said. “But it was also really cool to live where the Boston Marathon starts.”

While Meg was an avid runner and swimmer, Michael said he would occasionally participate in local 5Ks and the Marathon Fitness Challenge for the Elmwood Elementary School.

“When my kids were around 10 years old, they began to beat me,” said Parduhn, noting that he has knee and back issues from playing hockey when he was younger. “It was very humbling.”

Pacing himself was a key Parduhn learned from his wife that has been a valuable tool in life as well as in running. Now a 51-year-old single father with four kids, Parduhn retired from

Michael Parduhn shows off the tutu he will wear in the Boston Marathon.

Stevenson passes on love for lacrosse to local youth

By Courtney Cornelius Contributing Writer

“When I grew up, I played basically every sport imaginable — I had a lot of energy, so it was good for me to let it out,” Rachel Stevenson shared with a laugh.

In high school, Stevenson stayed active with basketball, lacrosse, soccer, softball and track, though she “didn’t really do distance until after college.”

Originally from Maryland, Stevenson went to Boston University in 1997 and played Division 1 college lacrosse. She ran the Boston Marathon in 2002, then the Providence Marathon and New York City Marathon the following year.

While in Boston, she met and married Dave Stevenson and then moved to the suburbs. They’ve been in Hopkinton seven years with daughters Lucy and Cora and son Walter.

Running took a temporary backseat to family and career; but this month, Stevenson will run the Boston Marathon to benefit Hopkinton Girls Youth Lacrosse (hopkintongirlslax.com).

“Now I finally have time to devote to it, and a good cause to run for, so I decided I’m going give it a try — 21 years later!” she marveled.

When her eldest daughter was in first grade, Stevenson worked with Parks & Recreation to add a lacrosse program for the first and second grade age group; she ended up becoming president of Hopkinton Girls Youth Lacrosse (HGYL) when it formed. She’s since stepped back from that role to focus on coaching and has had the opportunity to coach both of her daughters’ teams.

“Young kids are just like sponges, and they’re high energy,” Stevenson remarked. “You can teach them something, and the next week, they’ve got it down.”

Stevenson has been coaching for

seven years. At one point, she coached high school lacrosse and “loved it,” but she said she especially enjoys working with youth, as, “They just make me smile.

“There was a day [recently] when I was pretty tired — I’m a teacher, and it was a long day, and I headed to practice like, ‘I don’t know if I have anything left to give’ … but within a minute, I was laughing with them.”

Per its mission statement, HGYL follows “a philosophy that encourages the inclusion of all and places more importance on participants having fun while learning the game of lacrosse.”

That’s a philosophy Stevenson supports. “The kids, they love to keep it fun, and that’s the whole point of sports, is the fun of it,” she said, and added that there’s plenty of time later for competition. “When they get to high school, if they want to get more serious, they can play club.”

The program has expanded significantly since its inception and is open to Hopkinton residents in kindergarten through eighth grade. Currently, there are three age-group divisions with three teams per group. Money raised from Stevenson’s Boston Marathon fundraiser will pay for such things as equipment and turf time, as well as help provide financial aid for those who need assistance with registration fees.

HGYL offers a pressure-free outlet for youth, valuing sportsmanship, teamwork and integrity over winning. There are no tryouts, no cuts, no team rankings and no championship, and the organization strives to give all players equal time on the field.

“It’s about letting every girl try lacrosse if they want to,” said Stevenson.

Donations to Stevenson and Hopkinton Girls Youth Lacrosse can be made via Venmo to HopkintonGirlsYouthLax with the comment Marathon.

Late wife’s battle with cancer pushes Parduhn to go distance

Parduhn | from page 22

his job of 12 years at CVS Health. He did this to be able to be more active in his children’s lives, he said, and to take better care of his own health.

“I retired so that I could be here for my kids,” he said. “I also wanted to spend some time being healthy so that I could be there for my kids for as long as I possibly can.”

After his retirement last April, Parduhn said he “diligently started running 3 miles a day three times a week. His Garmin watch, a popular accessory for runners, helps him to keep his pacing now. By November, he was able to run 13.1 miles – the length of a halfmarathon – with his friends.

“Finding out that I was accepted in October for the DFMC team was exciting and scary at the same time,” he said, noting that the application process was “a good way to think through my motivation.”

“I got accepted a week before the anniversary of her passing,” he noted. “The timing seemed appropriate.”

As he spoke about his late wife, Parduhn became emotional. He explained that his wife received treatment at the Dana-Farber facilities primarily in Milford but also in Boston, calling the staff “very caring and loving.”

“My kids make fun of me because they say I always cry,” Michael added as he swept away tears. “I will definitely be crying when I am running the Marathon.

“In September 2018, Meg was not doing well,” he continued. “At her treatment on Oct. 16, her doctor said it was the end. My birthday was on Oct. 17, and she passed away on the 18th. I think she was hanging on for my birthday.

Parduhn’s father died in November 2021 from liver cancer, making this run even more meaningful. After the Boston Marathon, Michael will begin training for the Chicago Marathon in October.

He explained that he is using the training program discussed in the book “Runner’s World Run Less, Run Faster.” He has been alternating runs with days in the gym, tapering down the number of miles to allow recovery time for his legs before the big event.

“Even on the days when I’m training and it’s really hard, I know that it’s easier than what [Meg] went through,” he said. “It’s just running, putting my feet in front of each other. I can do that. And I just got my new teal running shoes to match the tutu.”

To donate to Parduhn’s fundraiser, visit danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/TR?fr_ id=1930&pg=personal&px=1794131.

Pakistani journalist set to run Boston for SACH

By Mary Ellen Gambon Contributing Writer

Junaid Muhammad, an award-winning international journalist in Pakistan, is equally passionate about running and supporting South Asian populations both here and abroad. He is weaving both of these activities together by running in the Boston Marathon on April 17 to support the South Asian Circle of Hopkinton.

In a Zoom interview from Karachi, Pakistan, Muhammad spoke about his journalism career, his human rights advocacy and his quest to connect South Asian communities throughout the globe by running on their behalf.

A seasoned television reporter and anchor for two decades, Muhammad has covered some of the most important events in recent history both in Pakistan and internationally for Geo Television Network Pakistan.

“It’s a Pakistani news channel, but it has a big reach and recognition in the South Asian communities of the United States, the UK and Europe,” he explained. “A lot of Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi people watch news in their own language.”

South Asia is comprised of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Afghanistan.

From national disasters and political upheavals in Pakistan to reporting on the 2016 U.S. presidential election in several American cities and the general election in the United Kingdom in 2017, his coverage has spanned

politics, education, current events and sports.

Among his accolades, in 2014, he won the Best Presenter award at the Pakistan Media Awards. He also has been a passionate supporter of women’s rights and education in Pakistan. In

addition, he assisted UNESCO with a project illustrating the devastating impacts the 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan had on children’s education.

“I have covered almost every aspect of life in the past 10 years, and it’s been quite an exciting journey so far,” he said. “I’ve been to several events on the spots of crisis. I have also worked with a lot of people from the United States.”

Muhammad said he was an athlete in school, playing cricket and badminton.

“Cricket is one of the craziest things in India and Pakistan,” he said. “I was surprised to hear of the cricket thing being popular in Massachusetts as well.”

When he began his career, he began to walk and run with friends as a hobby. After a few years, running and going to the gym became a part of his lifestyle.

“The quest and the passion for running began with this idea to take time out and dedicating time for exercising,” he explained. “My very serious running began about five years ago in Karachi, and that was through some of my friends at the gym.”

Muhammad ran and finished his first marathon in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2021. In the last couple of years, Junaid has run over 50 half-marathons in Pakistan, Albania, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as three full marathons. He currently trains with the Seaview Runners Club in Karachi.

“In the news industry here, there are not many people who are passionate about marathons,” he said. “I’ve made it a goal to run all six [Abbott World Marathon Majors]. You don’t see many South Asian people represented in marathons, or in sports in general.”

He decided to run the Boston Marathon after speaking with Donald Blome, the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.

Said Muhammad: “He called it the grandmother of the marathons.”

He began reaching out to members of the Pakistani community in Massachusetts, which eventually led him to the fundraiser for SACH (gofund. me/904d4837).

“I thought it made perfect sense that a South Asian community in the heart of Massachusetts at the start of the Boston Marathon would have a runner

from one of the South Asian countries to run for them and do something good for the community,” Muhammad said.

He described the idea of him running in the Boston Marathon as “like a fairy tale in Pakistan.”

Said Muhammad: “This is probably the greatest running event in the history of mankind.”

But Muhammad’s marathon run has a more concrete goal, he stressed.

“I think the broader message of this collaboration with SACH is it is possible to make something like this more accessible to South Asians,” Muhammad added. “I hope this will open the gates for more people from the South Asian region that they should be coming to these events and bringing their talent, bringing their passion.”

A barrier for South Asian athletes is going through the arduous process of obtaining visas, making travel plans, qualifying for a marathon and then connecting with a charity to support.

“It’s about communities coming together,” he said. “My participation shows that it is so possible to achieve everything that seems impossible.”

Running the Boston Marathon is just one step in Muhammad’s mission to connect South Asian communities around the world through sports. He intends to run all six Abbott World Marathon Majors and support South Asian nonprofit groups like SACH in the host cities: Boston, New York, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo. Training is uniquely challenging for Muhammad because it takes place during Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month. It is a month of fasting, prayer, charity and reflection. He had observed Ramadan outside Pakistan once before in 2017, when he was covering the general election in the U.K. He said that the time difference and the fact that it was summer there made his fasting periods as long as 19 hours a day.

“It will be challenging, but I aim to do the fasting and continuing my training,” he said.

Muhammad will travel more than 7,600 miles to visit Boston, a city he enjoyed in 2021.

“I love being in Boston,” he said. “I love the food. I love the people.”

On April 13, SACH will host a meet and greet to welcome Muhammad to Hopkinton at the Hopkinton Public Library beginning at 6 p.m.

“It’s a very small, beautiful town with so many amazing people,” Muhammad said of Hopkinton. “Honestly, I can’t wait to travel there and experience everything myself.”

Muhammad thanked the Hopkinton Select Board, particularly members Shahidul Mannan and Irfan Nasrullah, “and this amazing community in MasMuhammad | page 25

Junaid Muhammad will fly in from Pakistan to run the Boston Marathon for the South Asian Circle of Hopkinton.

It’s about communities coming together. My participation shows that it is so possible to achieve everything that seems impossible.

— Junaid Muhammad

Lifelong friends run to help those in need

By Jane Bigda Contributing Writer

Almost every year of their lives, Zack Sisitsky and Nate Pucci have run to support a charity.

The Hopkinton natives, now in their early 20s and friends since kindergarten, started running in the annual Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K which began in 2004. This year they will run the Boston Marathon, with Sisitsky raising funds for the Hopkinton Emergency Fund (HEF) and Pucci supporting the Mental Health Collaborative (MHC).

While running for different charities, the two friends note the organizations mesh together in the tagline, “You can’t have good mental health (MHC) if your basic needs aren’t met (HEF).”

stress for everyone,” said Pucci. “We all need to know how to deal with those needs.”

Thanks to the generous contribution of his employer, Cove Hill Partners of Boston, Pucci reached his fundraising goal. He has since been working to help raise funds for Sisitsky.

While the two friends cannot often run together since Sisitsky lives in New York City and Pucci in Boston, the two keep in touch by phone while training, do virtual runs together and occasionally meet to train in person.

“I am very excited to be running the Marathon,” said Sisitsky. “It has always been a goal since I was a little kid in Hopkinton, enjoying Marathon Monday. It will be great to do it with Nate.”

Pucci agreed, saying, “Growing up in Hopkinton, it will be really cool to participate in an event that I have watched all my life. Running in the Marathon is a dream of both Zack and mine.”

To contribute to Sisitsky’s fundraising for the Hopkinton Emergency Fund, visit GivenGain.com/ap/ZackSisitsky-raising-funds-for-HopkintonEmergency-Fund/? or send a check directly to Hopkinton Emergency Fund, Inc., P.O. Box 44, Hopkinton, MA 01748.

The Hopkinton Emergency Fund is a 501(c)3 started in 2020 by a team of volunteers, led by Sisitsky, to help town residents needing immediate financial support.

Home from college due to the COVID pandemic, Sisitsky said he “was looking for ways to help in the community. I connected with someone working in Hopkinton’s social services. She explained the town needed an emergency fund to help residents with immediate needs.”

He said many other towns have this type of fund, which provides temporary payments for rent, car repairs or the like. The grant helps the person in need for a month or two until a long-term solution can be found.

Starting virtually, HEF volunteers raised enough money to provide their first grant in April 2021. “In the two years since we began, we have given over $31,000 in grants,” said Sisitsky, who besides helping start the fund also acted as a co-director for one year.

Since the confidentiality of the clients is paramount, HEF partners with the Hopkinton Senior Center, Hopkin-

ton Youth & Family Services, Project Just Because and the St. Vincent de Paul Society for referrals. HEF grants are paid directly to the vendor such as the landlord or car mechanic.

While not active in the day-to-day operation of HEF, Sisitsky continues to help with fundraising and to spread the word about its mission. “Even in a well-off community like Hopkinton, residents can experience hardships that hurt them financially. The Hopkinton Emergency Fund provides immediate emergency support until other organizations can come up with long-term help,” he said.

Supporting another organization helping those in need, Pucci is running for the Mental Health Collaborative, which works to build resilient communities through mental health education and awareness. Founded about four years ago by Abbie Rosenberg — who is Sisitsky’s mother — with a grant from a client who died by suicide, MHC works to reduce the stigma of mental health assistance, increase knowledge and give individuals the skills they need to flourish.

Having served on the MHC youth advisory board, Pucci notes this year the organization hopes to have more

Pakistani journalist set to run Boston for SACH

would be to bring a team of runners from South Asia to run in the Boston Marathon with members of SACH.

programs in schools and increase outreach to disadvantaged communities.

“COVID has created more mental

While Pucci has reached his fundraising goal, anyone interested in supporting the Mental Health Collaborative or getting more information about the organization can visit MentalHealthCollaborative.org. sachusetts” for their support. He also expressed appreciation to SACH and its president, Ruta Upalekar.

“Their energy is very positive, and their thought process is very inclusive,” he said.

“I might be the one running,” Muhammad continued, “but it would not be possible without all the support I’ve received from people in Pakistan, Hopkinton and Boston.”

A future goal, Muhammad said,

Right now, he only has one fear about the upcoming marathon.

“I am hoping that Heartbreak Hill won’t actually break my heart,” he said with a laugh.

“I would encourage all South Asian Americans — and everyone — to gather on both sides of Heartbreak Hill to support me and support SACH,” he added. “Nothing would be more amazing than that.”

Zack Sisitsky (left in both photos) and Nate Pucci have run together for almost two decades starting with the Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K events in the early 2000s to the 2023 Boston Marathon this April 17. The two lifelong friends are shown as youngsters in the photo on the left and just a few weeks ago as they went on a training run in New York City.

Muhammad | from page 24

Windheuser returns to hometown for run to benefit HEF

By Susan Gonsalves Contributing Writer

Aphysician’s assistant living in New York plans to run the Boston Marathon to benefit the Hopkinton Education Foundation.

Ashley Windheuser grew up in Hopkinton and has fond memories of the schools, community and watching the Boston Marathon, which she called the town’s “most exciting day of the year.”

An athlete during her school years, she participated in varsity volleyball, diving and gymnastics and “avoided running sports,” she said.

That all changed when Windheuser was attending graduate school at Albany Medical College and looking for a stress outlet. Running became that stress-buster, and Windheuser began 3-mile jaunts in preparation for half-marathons.

“I haven’t looked back since,” she said.

“People think I’m crazy for running half-marathons. But if you can run one mile, you may as well run the rest,” Windheuser noted.

“It was always in the back of my mind one day to go back to Boston and run the Marathon,” she said. “The year after I graduated, I thought, ‘There’s no time like the present.’ I can’t keep putting it off.”

Windheuser said the prospect of running for 26 miles is “kind of scary … a little daunting,” but it is a challenge she is willing to face.

“The best part [of running] are the race days. They are high energy and you get to push yourself to new limits and see what you are capable of,” she said. An additional

bonus is the support of family and friends.

For the 127th Boston Marathon on April 17, Windheuser will have the incentive of giving back to the community where she grew up.

“I appreciate the efforts of the Hopkinton Education Foundation and how they encourage students and support activities through the school system,” she said. “I would not be where I am without the Hopkinton schools.”

Today, Windheuser works as a physician’s assistant at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

In January, she began a strict training

schedule – including a 16-mile run – and was hoping to continue preparations all the way through to April.

The most difficult part of running distances, she said, is the mental aspect. A person could be running four hours or more. “That’s a lot of time for self-doubt to happen. You think, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ And you push through.”

Running also has a positive mental aspect, Windheuser added. “During the time alone, it’s a great way to reflect back on your days.”

Windheuser’s parents recently moved from Hopkinton to Western Massachusetts, but she remains in touch with friends

in town and expects them to turn out on race day.

“I grew up cheering the runners each year,” Windheuser recalled. “A sense of town spirit comes out at the Boston Marathon. I think it’s going to be exciting.”

She hoped to get the word out about her efforts for the Hopkinton Education Foundation through social media. Her GoFundMe page can be found at gofundme.com/f/ashleys-boston-marathonfundraiser.

“I had a great childhood in Hopkinton and feel a connection with the town. I hope someday my children will have a place like that to grow up,” she said.

Vogel runs Boston for music, memories

By Courtney Cornelius Contributing Writer

“Music has always been a huge part of my family,” said Kerry Vogel, who is running her first Boston Marathon in 2023 to raise money for the Hopkinton Music Association.

The Hopkinton Music Association (HMA) is a volunteer organization composed of parents, alumni, educators and community members. It relies on the support of individuals, families and businesses who donate time and materials. Per its website (hopkintonmusicasso.wixsite.com/hopkintonmusic), HMA’s mission is to “promote, support and advocate for exceptional music education for all students in Hopkinton Public Schools.”

HMA provides scholarships for graduating Hopkinton seniors; music lesson scholarships for students in grades 6-11; formal performance attire for high school band, chorus and orchestra groups; jackets for the high school pep band, chorus and orchestra; Music Festival funding; buses for the Grade 8 trip to an educational musical performance; volunteer support for school concerts and MICCA festivals; music instruments and equipment; and guest clinicians and speakers.

Originally from Franklin, Vogel and her husband, Terry, have been Milford residents for 10 years. Their family now includes 2-year-old daughter Grace and 1-year-old son Caleb. Vogel works in planning and procurement for Dell Technologies and also works with Start Line Brewing, both in Hopkinton.

“So I’ve been heavily active in the town, and I know a lot of people who live within Hopkinton,” she said, “and when this opportunity came up, obviously, you know, I didn’t want to turn it down!”

Vogel has been running most of her life. She ran track in high school and played soccer throughout college and has “been a runner ever since!” She’s done 5Ks, 10Ks and half-marathons and said “Boston has been a bucket list thing for me for a long time.”

Through her running group, the TriValley Front Runners, Vogel met people in the Hopkinton Running Club, and through those connections became acquainted with the HMA. Her background of music appreciation motivated her to run for its benefit.

“I played instruments growing up, my sister was in the choir, and my mom was big into singing,” she explained, adding that both her parents passed away within two months of each other this year.

“So, it’s been a rough couple months of marathon training, for sure,” she shared, but added that running is “definitely a good distraction, a stress-burner — running’s always been like that for me, kind of just a good way to clear your mind.”

For training, “I’m doing the Hal Higdon training program — so I run four days a week, rest two days a week, and then I cross train one day a week,” she said. “I like to spin, so I’ll usually do a spin class at my gym or jump on the Peloton … and sometimes it’s maybe just a walk with the kids on the weekend.

“My training hasn’t been that glamorous, but I’ve powered through!” she added with a chuckle. “At this point, I’m just looking forward to it, it’ll be a fun day, and I’m looking forward to seeing my friends and family who are all going to be out there supporting me.”

Her parents will surely be there in spirit, with mom singing Vogel’s praises.

“Both of my parents were my number one supporters in everything,” Vogel wrote on her fundraising page (givengain. com/ap/kerry-vogel-raising-funds-forhopkinton-music-association/#timeline).

“I know they’ll be with me all 26.2 miles, cheering me on as they have my whole life. This one’s for you mom & dad.”

Ashley Windheuser hopes to enjoy her return to Hopkinton for the Boston Marathon.

Kerry Vogel, shown with children Grace and Caleb, will attempt her first Boston Marathon.

McCann takes on new challenge with Tough Ruck

By Courtney Cornelius

Contributing Writer

After having competed in the Boston Marathon twice, Kayla McCann will join Tough Ruck Nation to complete the Tough Ruck 26.2 Boston For the Fallen on April 16 while carrying a 35-pound rucksack on her back.

“I’ve been running since I was in sixth grade. I joined the cross country team at Hopkinton Middle School when I was in seventh grade and ran all throughout middle school and high school,” said McCann, now a junior at Northeastern University. “And since, you know, Hopkinton is the start of the Boston Marathon, I’ve always just been so inspired and wanted to be one

of those runners.”

It didn’t take long — the exceptional young lady ran her first Boston Marathon in 2020 at the age of 18 to benefit Brad Canty’s Underdog Scholarship, and ran it again in 2022.

“This will be my third marathon, and this time I’ll be doing it with a ruck on my back!” she said cheerfully.

Tough Ruck is the only ruck march partnered with the Boston Marathon. Finishers are awarded the official Boston Marathon medallion and recognition from the Boston Athletic Association.

Tough Ruck Nation (toughruck.org), per its website, is a “group of military, first responders and civilians whose sole purpose is to ruck in honor and in memory

Elite field: World record holder Kipchoge makes Boston debut

ral choice for McCann, who noted three reasons she joined ROTC: “I’ve always loved to challenge myself — like in high school, whether physically, or mentally by taking hard classes, so I’ve always just loved a challenge, and ROTC definitely gives me that challenge.

“It also gives me a lot of opportunities to travel. … I had the opportunity to go to West Point to go to Air Assault School and got to jump out of helicopters, so that was really cool. … And I’ll have opportunities to go to different schools and meet people in different countries around the world.

“And it gives me the greatest purpose in life! I want to be an Army nurse — I feel like if I’m helping the soldiers who are fighting for the rest of the people in the United States, I’m helping the most amount of people. So it gives me a greater sense of purpose in what I’m doing with my daily studies for becoming a nurse.”

By Jean Cann

Contributing Writer

The field of professional athletes for the 127th Boston Marathon includes women from 18 countries and men from 21 in the open, wheelchair and para athletics divisions. Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge, a double Olympic gold medalist and the men’s marathon world record holder, headlines this year’s race. Kipchoge ran 2 hours, 1 minute, 9 seconds at the Berlin Marathon last fall and has run four of the six fastest marathons ever. He will be making his Boston debut. Fourteen other men slated to compete have run faster than 2:07. Sixteen women in the field hold personal bests faster than 2:21.

Young talent will challenge veteran Boston runners in the women’s field. Lining up in Hopkinton will be previous Boston champions Des Linden (2018), Kenyan Edna Kiplagat (2017, 2021) and Ethiopian Atsede Baysa (2016). Linden, a Michigander, has been in Boston recently training on the course. The second- and third-place finishers from 2022, Ethiopian Ababel Yeshaneh and Kenyan Mary Ngugi, will challenge for the laurel wreath. Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi and Israel’s Lonah Salpeter took first and second at the New York City Marathon last fall and plan to make their Boston debuts, along with Ethiopia’s Amane Beriso, who ran the third-fastest women’s marathon time ever four months ago.

Some U.S. runners shooting for top spots include Sara Hall, Olympian Aliphine Tuliamuk, Emma Bates, Nell Rojas, Dakotah Lindwurm, Laura Thweatt, Annie

Frisbie, Sara Vaughn and Erika Kemp. Boston women’s wheelchair course record holder and four-time champion Manuela Schär of Switzerland will battle Susannah Scaroni (USA), Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist Madison de Rozario (Australia) and five-time Boston winner Tatyana McFadden (USA) for Boston supremacy.

Any open or wheelchair division athlete who breaks a course record will receive a $50,000 bonus. This prize money is in addition to money for the top 10 finishers in the men’s and women’s open and wheelchair races, as well as some prize money for masters runners and para athletes. The open records are 2:03:02 by Geoffrey Mutai and 2:19:59 by Buzunesh Deba, while wheelchair records are 1:18:04 by Marcel Hug and 1:28:17 by Schär.

In the men’s open race, favorites to challenge Kipchoge include defending Boston Marathon champion Evans Chebet and 2021 winner Benson Kipruto, both of Kenya, and two-time victor Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa, as well as Gabriel Geay, the Tanzanian record holder.

Top U.S. men include last year’s seventh-place finisher and top American Scott Fauble, running his fourth Boston, and Boston rookie Conner Mantz, who will take on the Boston course for the first time after a 2:08:16 debut at Chicago last fall.

American Daniel Romanchuk will try to defend his title in the men’s wheelchair division. He also won Boston in 2019 (1:21:36). Hug will be trying for his sixth Boston win, as well as trying to break his own course record.

of our fallen service members, police, firefighters and EMTs, while raising funds to support our warriors and families of the fallen. We will march with our rucks and carry the names of our fallen comrades with us.”

That’s a cause McCann, who’s in the Army ROTC, is proud to support.

“In the few years I’ve been in the ROTC program, I’ve been exposed to what the service members put in to our country and all they did for us, and it’s like, an honor. And since I’m able to ruck for them, I feel like I should,” she said.

Supporting Tough Ruck seems a natu-

ROTC has not only challenged her, broadened her horizons and reinforced her purpose, it has also united her with a group of people who share her drive and dedication.

“We’re doing it kind of as a team — other cadets from my battalion are doing it, so they’ll also be helping me through it,” McCann said of the Tough Ruck marathon. “The Army is just huge, huge teamwork, you know. … Everyone is working toward the same cause, which is great.”

Tough Ruck, held two days before the Boston Marathon, starts and finishes at The Fenn School in Concord, with the course venturing into Lexington before doubling back. McCann’s Tough Ruck donation page can be found at runsignup. com/mccann-toughruck.

Kayla McCann will try a marathon of a different kind April 16 when she competes in the Tough Ruck 26.2 Boston For the Fallen in Concord and Lexington.

The professional male runners take off at the start of the 2022 Boston Marathon.

It all starts here

This year marks the 99th year that Hopkinton has hosted the start of the Boston Marathon. When 30,000 racers show up, the friendly staff at Price Chopper will be ready – with a smile, warm hospitality and an unbridled enthusiasm we all share for this great event. Today, and every day, we’re rooting for you.

We’re not just in your neighborhood, we’re your neighbor.